Of the Desert
by Aoikami Sarah
Summary: After Gaara and his siblings have been sent packing, they find the Wind Country in dissaray... what will Gaara do now?
1. Default Chapter

"Of the Desert" : a Naruto Fanfic by Aoi Kami Sarah

DISCLAIMER : I think everyone will agree with me when I say I do not own Naruto. Though if anyone's got even a second-hand Kakashi for sale, I'd gladly pick one up.

Notes: This is my 2nd Naruto fic. It's about Gaara and takes place after his fight with Naruto, so if you haven't read that far yet… GO READ MORE MANGA FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!

Chapter One

            Three shapes blurred through the forest, heading northwest as fast as they could run. The girl bounded ahead and scouted out for enemies while the tall boy lagged just behind her, weighted down by his cargo: a red haired boy with a huge gourd strapped to his back.

            When he caught up, she met her brother's eyes, nodded the all-clear signal and they bounded off once more. Kankuro shifted his grip around the redhead's chest tried to keep up with her.

            "Temari… Kankuro…" Gaara muttered. His siblings looked to him in fear. "I'm sorry, you guys."

            Temari's eyes nearly popped from their sockets, but she knew better than to draw attention to anything Gaara did. Kankuro met her perplexed gaze and swallowed deep. He tightened his grip around his brother's chest in a slight gesture of acknowledgement. "It… it's nothing," he said cautiously. 

            After a half hour, it became clear that the Leaf-nin weren't following. They slowed their flight and Gaara gently pushed Kankuro, letting him know he could stand on his own. The three Sand-nin rested high in the branches of a tree deep in the forest. There were still 300 kilometers before the Wind country border and evening was approaching faster than they would reach it.

            "We'll make came here tonight. All right, Gaara?" Kankuro asked.

            When he didn't protest they found a good spot against a rock outcropping to set up camp. As her eyes grew heavy with sleep Temari watched her younger brother. Gaara leaned against the rock, wrapping his scarf around him for more warmth. His intense black-rimmed eyes started into the flames that licked the darkness. She let a breath she had been holding out slowly and thought hard on something to say. He had apologized to them. Gaara, who cares for no one but himself had said 'I'm sorry'. The first thing that came to her mind convinced her that there truly was no way to reach out to someone like him, however much she wanted to. 'Goodnight, Gaara,' she thought and closed her eyes.

            The following afternoon they reached the Hidden Sand Village in the heart of the Wind Country. They walked down the streets with their guard up. Even though they were home, the air of danger had not left. Their attack on the Hidden Leaf had failed. They had no idea how they would be received. 

            The sandy streets were desolate. People hid around corners and behind the heavy shutters of their house's windows. Shops were closed or nearly vacant. Some shops had been looted. The road was strewn with trash and paper. This was a town that had experienced panic. Kankuro saw someone out of the corner of his eye dart from one door to another. The man wasn't avoiding them, he was simply trying to remain out of sight.

            "Looks like we surrendered," he muttered.

            "This is bad," Temari clenched her fists. "If we thought things in the Hidden Sand were rough before…"

            "Che," Gaara scoffed, but didn't comment. His eyes were trained further up the road. "Looks like we're out of a home, kyoudai."

            The grand estate in the heart of town, the house of the Kazekage was draped in black cloth. "Masaka!" Kankuro grit his teeth.

            "Tousan!" Temari shouted and sprinted to the house.

            On his journey to the Hidden Leaf Village to witness the Chuunin selection exam's final test, Kazekage had been ambushed and killed by Orochimaru's men. His plans to destroy the Leaf were blown away when he decided to be in league with someone as unscrupulous as Orochimaru. 

            Gaara leaned against a wall in the foyer and listened to the council talk of treaty arrangements and fuss over who they would select as an interim Kazekage. The talk of politics and surrender made his stomach churn. He tried to tune it out, but his mind just kept returning to his last fight. Gaara had gone all out and still was defeated at the hands of someone like him who was also completely not like him. He pouted and stared at the floor. 'What your pain must be… I understand that… the hell of being alone…' Naruto's words rang in his ears. He turned to leave.

            "Gaara, where are you going?" Temari asked, startled by his action.

            "Away. This no longer interests or concerns me."

            Kankuro took a step forward. "Demo, Gaara, what are we going to do?"

            He stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "I don't care what you do. I'm leaving."

*

            A new administration set up in the Wind Country and tried to stabilize the government. Baki, the sibling's sensei was made Kazekage. Kankuro and Temari did their best to help control the Hidden Sand Village, but Gaara was nowhere to be found.

            It was a difficult time to be the loser in an unwarranted war against a much more powerful country. Local warlords all over the Wind country used the lawless confusion to their advantage and terrorized the more rural parts. Ninja now found jobs either as escorts for merchant caravans trying to traverse the desert in peace or as warlords' soldiers attacking the caravans. 

            One such caravan was making its way across the unforgiving terrain when it encountered a lone shinobi standing in its path. The camels refused to get near him. The escort-nin tried to attack him. All of the people, women and children included, were dead within 15 minutes.

            Gaara took a long draught of water and cocked his head to better hear the tale. Three men at the bar leaned in and made exasperated sounds.

            "I'm tellin' ya it's the truth!" a fourth, the story-teller shouted. "I was in a caravan just behind these guys. They was all dead an' all their goods and money was gone!"

            "Shimatta, what is this world coming to? The women and babies too!" someone exclaimed.

            "Did they have an escort?" Gaara asked as he handed his empty canteen to the bartender to refill. 

            "Sure nuff!" the teller barked. "Five of 'em. They was no match for these bastards, whoever they was."

            Gaara narrowed his eyes. "It sounds to me like they invested poorly."

            "Eh?!" the slightly drunken and angry teller growled. "You think yer better than five ninja, punk?!"

            "I'm better than all ninja," the boy deadpanned and took his full canteen back. 

            As he turned and left, one of the audience hissed, "Man, watch out! I think that's Sabaku no Gaara!"

            "Uso!" 

            By the time the men turned to look, the boy was gone.

*

            The sands whipped across the desert in the tail of a storm. Gaara marched across the dunes, wrapped in a protective cotton robe. On his back he carried a fairly large pack in place of his trademark gourd of sand. "Damn it," he muttered as the wind howled against his clothes, pushing against him. He refused to admit even to himself that leaving the gourd behind was a bad idea. He hadn't been without it for about five years.

            The sandstorm had only one good point: it blocked the harsh rays of the sun, allowing him to travel in the middle of the day. The route was unmarked, but he knew to head south-south-west. As the storm abated and the sun beat down, Gaara stopped, set up his one-man tent and sat very still. Day dreams of the gulf coast he would reach in just a week danced through his head as he tried to ignore the 120 degree temperature. Just as he began to relax and meditate, a shivering movement on the horizon caught his eye.

            Gaara squinted at the intense brightness of the rolling desert as shapes danced on the border of sand and sky. As they crossed from right to left he decided they were part of a trade caravan and closed his eyes again.

            The only time Gaara could get any rest was the middle of the day. He would concentrate with all his might, meditating on a seal. When it was complete, he could rest, still awake for three hours. This was the only rest he ever got. Sometimes Gaara went without rest for days on end. It wasn't uncommon. Fighting the demon inside him was a constant struggle, unlike Uzumaki Naruto whose demon was neatly locked away by a seal that had killed its caster to perform.

            Gaara snorted in disgust. The thought of the blond boy who'd defeated him jerked from his reverie. "Fuck," he spat and folded his arms tighter. The shapes on the horizon were still bobbing in the heat-haze, but as he narrowed his eyes, Gaara realized they were no longer moving.

            "Why would a caravan that's already traveling in midday stop?" he asked the silence. For the next three hours as he put himself in the waking trance he watched the shapes flicker and undulate, distorted by the heat rising from the sand. 

            It was sundown when he rose, packed his tent and continued on his journey. It just so happened that the caravan was on his way. When he reached the wagons he knew why they had stopped.

            Everyone was dead. Camel and horse tracks led off to the south. The killers had come and gone. The half-dozen shinobi that were supposed to protect the caravan where strew close to the southern side of the group, indicating that they attempted to take the enemy head on. "Che, idiots," Gaara scoffed. He wandered unflinching through the carnage. The wagons were overturned and their contents strew about. He stood still and looked around him. "That's odd…" he muttered. There was no sign of a struggle between any of the victims and their attackers. The footprints in the undisturbed sand indicated that the robbers had an easy time of their looting. He approached a man's body and scrutinized the kill. 

            If Gaara had killed them their bodies would bear tell tale grains of sand often imbedded into their skin. There had to be a clue. Then he found it. The weapon was just beneath the man; he had fallen on his own sword. To his left, another man lay sprawled on the sand, the gun he shot himself in the face with still in his hands. Another still gripped a bloody knife. "Masaka…" Gaara whispered. "They killed themselves?"

            The breeze picked up some sand and made miniature tornadoes around the debris. Gaara turned to move on but a foreign sound caught his ear. Something was moving under some discarded tent canvas. Sensing no danger and wanting to know more about what had happened, he approached it and uncovered the being underneath.

            A dark haired and skinned woman of perhaps 30 years was curled in a fetal position in the sand. She twitched and held herself tightly. "No, no, no, no, no," she repeated senselessly. 

            "Oi, onna. What happened here?"

            "No, no, no, no… not… no…"

            Gaara pouted. "Not much use talking to this one…" he snorted and turned to go.

            "No, not, my, baby. No…" she stuttered.

            Gaara stopped in his tracks. His heart rose into his throat and he suddenly felt as if he were going to be sick. The boy stared at the woman, who he now realized wasn't clutching herself; her arms were wrapped around her swollen abdomen. 

            For a good minute he stared, confused and unsure of the things he was feeling. Darkness was setting in and the temperature was beginning to drop rapidly. At last he unclenched his fists and squatted down next to her. "Kimi," he addressed her. "I'm going to move you from here." She continued to prattle, but in a hushed tone, as if she had heard him.

            She was too large for him to carry comfortably. Gaara used the tent canvas, tent poles and some twine to construct a drag on which he could pull her. Finally, he bent to pick her up. He hesitated before touching her, and then carefully laced his hands under her arms. She gasped in alarm. Her eyes were shot with worry, but still unfocused. "I'm just moving you. You'll die if I leave you here," he advised her in a whisper. She calmed down again but her dry lips still repeated 'no' like a broken record. She settled into the drag and Gaara began to haul her and some of the left over supplies away from the crime scene.

            His brow creased under the cotton turban he wore and he stopped for a moment. Already, the woman had begun to calm down. "When you come round I have some questions for you. So don't die just yet," he called and moved on to the southeast. 


	2. chapter 2

"Of the Desert" : a Naruto Fanfic by Aoi Kami Sarah

DISCLAIMER : I do not own Naruto. Go fig.

Chapter Two

            The large, airy meeting room was cluttered with magistrates and officials from all over the Wind country. Baki sat on a slightly raised platform, cross-legged and closed his eyes. The din from the many disagreements was beginning to get to him.

            "Enough!" he barked. "If you cannot speak in a civilized fashion then discussions for today will stop."

            "Of course, Kazekage-sama," many of the bureaucrats were heard to mutter. They shuffled their papers and whispered, but allowed order to return briefly to the conference.

            For months, Baki had been attempting to repair his ailing village. The Daimyo had been assassinated and now the Wind country was scrambling to reorganize. Rumor had spread that an intelligent man had become Kazekage, and that frightened those who wished to replace the Daimyo. Baki was careful not to be swayed by anyone, but the constant arguments between regional magistrates were beginning to grate on him. Truly, his only concern was the life of his village and this conversation was beginning to diverge from that topic by the moment.

            "Kazekage-sama," a particularly rotund official bowed from his seat on the floor to his left. "There is the matter of protection which has always been promised by the Hidden Sand for the trade routes across the western desert."

            Baki held his hand up. "Rest assured," he said with a relieved sigh. "A special team has been assigned that very task. That branch of patrol should be up and running in the next two days."

            The official smiled a surprised smile. "Thank you very much, Kazekage-sama!"

            Baki went on to the next person's dilemma, glad that at least one thing was going smoothly.

*

            "What in the hell do you think you're doing!?" Temari shouted over the heads of almost twenty other Chuunin level Ninja. "I said break into your five-man teams and be here in an hour. Most of you are late!"

            The adults shouted their apology to the teen girl.

            'Oh man,' her brother moaned internally. 'I don't know who's scarier: Gaara or Temari.'

            "Team One, Two and Three you will be lead by these three fine Jounin," Temari indicated to three men who bowed to the group. "Team four," she met their eyes and they shivered. "You will be led by Kankuro and myself. You have your itinerary. You will be spending three weeks in the desert, guiding trade caravans and quelling any warlord activity you find. You have a list of known gangs and routes and permission to kill if necessary. Do your best and report back here on the first of next month by sundown. Understood?"

            "Yes Ma'am!" the teams shouted.

            "Ganbatteyo!" Temari shouted and they set off on their missions. 

*

            In a rocky, hilly spot just to the north of the border between the true dunes and more varied desert terrain, Gaara stopped for the night. He put the drag down and set up a larger tent obtained from the caravan. In a few minutes he had a small fire going and was heating some noodles over a miniature camp stove. The woman was sleeping now. Her brow was creased and despite the oncoming cold of the desert at night, beads of sweat gathered and trickled down into her eyes.

            Gaara wet bit of cotton cloth with water from one of the canteens he had scavenged from the caravan. Tenuously, he wiped her forehead once and waited for a reaction. To his surprise, her eyes fluttered open.

            "You're awake," he stated.

            "It's over…" she whispered and eyed his canteen. Gaara handed it to her and she gulped down its contents. "I was sure I would die. He was so strong."

            Gaara got straight to the point. "Just what happened back there?"

            She looked around and furrowed her brows. "Where am I?" she asked, more annoyed than frightened. 

            "I took you from there. There's nothing left."

            She put the empty canteen down. "They were all dead?" she asked quietly.

            "Yes. What happened? Who killed them?"

            "Not who, what," she corrected him. "That boy…" suddenly she realized how old Gaara was. "You're a ninja… You're not with him, are you?"

           "With who, the killer?" he scoffed. "Certainly not." He almost added that if he had been she would not have survived.

            "What's a kid like you doing alone in the middle of the desert, then?" she asked, skeptically.

            "Answer me first. What happened?"

            They stared at each other for a moment, both as stubborn as badgers. His pale, blue-green eyes held steady under her hazel gaze.

            "Why do you have 'love' tattooed on your forehead?"

            "I ASKED YOU FIRST!"

            The air seemed to arch with electricity between them. She folded her arms and looked down. "It was too horrible. I can tell you the boy was perhaps younger than you. He used genjutsu on them. That's what killed them… rather, made them kill themselves." She shuddered and hugged herself again.

            "How did you survive it, then?" Gaara squinted. "Perhaps you're on his side."

            Her eyes flashed with anger. "That caravan was my husband's family. Why would I allow such a thing?"

            "Stranger things have been known to happen," he said, thinking of his own family's tactics. 

            "I survived for two reasons," she said and stood up, stretching her back. "One, I am of a ninja family, and two," she ran a hand over her belly, "I have something to protect. I cannot take my own life, no matter how much it hurts." She shuddered again, but took a deep breath and looked around at their surroundings. "So, Chibi," she gazed down on him. "Just who are you?"

            Gaara thought fast. "You can call me Raaga."

            "Good enough. I'm Okochio Rouzu. So Chibi-nin. Since you were so kind as to rescue me from certain death, I'm sure you won't mind being my escort." Rouzu grinned a thin-lipped, manipulative grin. "You wouldn't leave a poor, defenseless pregnant lady alone in the middle of the desert, would you?!" she made puppy-dog eyes at him.

            "Wh-what?!" Gaara stuttered and shot to his feet. "I did not rescue you! I simply wanted to know what was responsible for that massacre!"

            "Why?" she asked, pushing him further, her voice becoming serious again.

            "So that I might have a decent opponent."

            Rouzu raised a brow. "You think you can kill him?"

            "I know I can."

            "Then I will follow YOU," she smirked and put her fists on her ample hips. "I will see him dead."


	3. chapter 3

**Of the Desert  
  
by Aoi Kami Sarah**

**Chapter Three**

            A large campfire crackled and hissed under the din of hushed voices. A dozen or more swarthy men sat around the fire and ate couscous and mutton with their bare right hands. A pot of strong, aromatic coffee boiled in a tin pot hanging over the blaze. Their gaze darted from their meals to the black haired boy sitting at the edge of the campsite. His back to the fire, the boy could not see the hateful looks on the men's faces.

            "Oi, this kid gives me the creeps."

            "Keep your voice down."

            "Whenever he's around I feel like he wants to kill me."

            "It is the same with me. I feel dread, My Friend. Pure dread."

            "'S'fuggin creepy, man."

            "If that's what a genius ninja's like, then I'm glad I suck."

            "You sure do, Pal."

            "Hey, fuck you."

            The boy stood and all conversation stopped.

            "Panpora-sama!" One bandit shouted and stood with shaking knees.

            "I'm going for a walk, you coward. Sit back down."

            "Of course!" the man laughed nervously.

            The boy called Panpora folded his arms and walked a short distance from the campsite. He knew his men were untrustworthy so he stayed in sight of them. It was common for the more cowardly of his underlings to take an opportunity like this to flee. But such men always followed him, greedy for a ravaged caravan's bounty and willing to witness the horror of his jutsu. With fire at his back his shadow was cast long and knife-like across the dunes.

            "I can smell it," he hissed, taking in a breath. His lips parted, revealing pointed, bright white teeth which stood out in sharp contrast to his dark skin. "Something exciting is close by."

*

            As morning broke over the desert, Kankuro and Temari's team assembled outside a small tavern. The Chuunin ninja were more at ease with their teenaged leaders after being pampered by an overnight stay indoors.

            "Don't get used to it," Kankuro laughed at the men's comments. "That tavern owner owed us. It's the wilds of the desert here on out."

            As they groused and put their packs on, Temari went to the bar to fill up her canteen. "You," she barked at the barkeep. "You seen a kid with the word 'love' on his forehead recently?"

            The three barflies to her left and the bartender stopped what they were doing and stared at her. "What if we did?" one of the more sodden of the flies asked, leaning in and squinting at her face.

            Temari grabbed the front of his shirt and jerked so that she could look down on him. "That is my business. Have you seen him?"

            "Sabakuno Gaara…? Sure," he stuttered. "He was here just bout a week ago. Less than that, maybe." 

            Temari released him and returned to her group.

            "Let's head out."

*

            The sky was shockingly blue and the sand seemed to glare white under the sun as Gaara and Rouzu followed the trade route south.

            "We should be heading more westerly," Rouzu stated.

            "Eh?"

            She pointed to a distant oasis. "That's only a few hours away." She didn't shield her eyes as she looked out at the brightness. Gaara squinted from between his ghutra head dress and protective scarf. "They're probably there already since they've only got a half a day on us. If we come up around from the western side we've got a better chance of taking them by surprise."

            "…." Gaara looked up at her as if she was the stupidest woman on Earth. 

            "Ok, ok. So a white-ass red-head and a pregnant woman sort of stick out…"

            "Sort of…?" he grumbled. "Look, it doesn't matter where we come up on the oasis. If we go west it'll just take longer to get there. If the enemy is already there, they've seen us approaching all morning."

            "Whatever," Rouzu sighed and put her hands behind her head. "As long as your not worried, Chibi. Then I trust you."

            "…." Gaara pouted. 'Trust… me…?' he thought and squinted at the distant oasis. He wondered if leaving his gourd of blood-infused sand behind would be a problem should the situation get sticky. Gourd or no gourd, he could still use his power to manipulate the sand, and there was plenty of that in the vast desert.

*

            Kankuro turned his head to avoid the stench. He swallowed hard. There were children and women among the dead. "Senseless…" he muttered. His sister nodded.

            "Temari-sama." One of the shinobi in their party jogged over to them. "It appears as if these people…" He pulled his face mask further up as he too got a good whiff. "These people all killed themselves."

            "Chikushou… This is horrible," she hissed and walked around the caravan's perimeter. 

            Kankuro jogged after her, thankful to get upwind. "Nee-chan," he got her attention and pointed south. The sand showed a faint trail. "Looks like they went this way." Temari nodded and they set out across the dunes.

*

            The sun bathed the oasis in orange as it sank. As Gaara paused to listen for anything out of the ordinary, Rouzu stepped in front of him. "They're just ahead. There's a spring on the other side of that hill that they're gathered around."

            He blinked a few times as he stared up at her. "Really?" he asked, sarcasm lacing his voice.

            She sniffed the air. "No camels. No more than a half dozen horses. They've only just started supper."

            Gaara shook his head, but knew that she was right. Rouzu was a Bedouin. Her senses were keen when it came to the desert. It was part of her survival mechanism. He walked towards the hill and turned to her. Before he could open his mouth, she was shimmying up a date palm. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked in wonder.

            She grinned from the top of the palm baring white teeth, which seemed to glow in the fading light. "Copping a squat. Go on Raaga, clean house. I'll be here when you get back."

            Gaara rolled his eyes and left her there. "Baka onna," he muttered and approached the hill. 

            Men's voices echoed off the spring pool and around the hill. Gaara estimated there were perhaps a little less than a dozen of them, but wanted to be sure. He made a seal with one hand and closed his eyes. When the jutsu was complete, he opened his left eye and let his right see what the Third Eye saw.

            Around the hill, eight men sat around a campfire. Their glances shifted from the fire to something just to the north of the camp. Gaara turned the sand-eye around and gasped as the black haired boy stared back at him. His lips moved. The words were slow and obvious for camera's benefit. "Yo Ro Shi Ku. Nice To Meet You."

            The eye scattered as Gaara broke the jutsu and walked around the hill. He pulled his ghutra further down so that it covered the scar on his forehead before coming into view. The men were startled to see another boy in the middle of the desert and quickly got to their feet, brandishing edged weapons. They waited for their leader. Panpora gave a slight nod and they rushed the boy. 

            As the three fastest of them reached Gaara, the sand below them liquefied, sucking them under. The others practically fell on each other as they halted their advance. Gaara smirked. "Not so anxious anymore, are you?" Some turned and ran. "Oh no, the fun has just begun," he said casually and raised his hand. The sand from the desert itself molded to his will and caught four of the men up. "Sabaku Sousou," Gaara hissed and lifted them off the ground. Rather than waste more energy, he simply dropped them into the quicksand. When they were no longer visible, the last man standing came at Gaara with a scimitar. The sword struck his shoulder and sent reverberations up the man's arm as it hit the armor of sand. 

            "What… what are you!?" he screeched. 

            "Sabakuno desu… I am of the desert."

            Anyone on the ground would have looked up into the palm trees and seen nothing out of the ordinary. Rouzu peered through the fronds at the scene below in wonder. "This chibi is something else…!" she whispered. "Could he be…?"

            Her mind raced back to ten years ago when Rouzu was still traveling with her family. They had stopped in the Hidden Sand Village. While they were filling their goatskins full of water at a public water fountain, she was minding her younger brothers as they chased each other around the square. They were excited to be in a city and weren't paying attention to anyone around them. One of her many little brothers ran into someone, knocking both of them to the ground.

           "Sorry bout that kid," her brother muttered. People all around stopped everything they were doing and stared. Rouzu had the sense to see that something was wrong. The people were anxious, as if waiting for something bad to happen. She stared at the kid as he got to his feet. He in turn stared incredulously at her brother. His eyes were sunken and rimmed in black and the kanji for 'love' was etched into the pale, white skin of his forehead. She shuddered at the strange vibes coming off of the boy. 

            "Come along, Chora," she ushered her brother and the others back to the caravan. "_Alahn_, please excuse him, _Mu'allim_. He is overjoyed to be in your wonderful city!" Rouzu played the 'ignorant Bedouin' card and hoped he would let them go without crying for his father. To her surprise and further astonishment, the boy shrugged and walked away. People backed away to let him pass. "_Ma'assalama_, go in peace!" she called after him and waved cheerily. When he was out of sight she frowned and slapped her brother upside the head.

            "Moron!" another older brother scolded the boy called Chora. "You're going to get us thrown out of here!"

            "Come on," Rouzu herded her siblings back to the caravan. "You've caused enough trouble for one day."

            "I didn't do anything!" Chora protested, but the elder dragged him off.

            Rouzu followed and in a few days they were back on the trade routes of the Seven Deserts and she forgot about the little boy entirely.

            A shadow darting across the hill caught Rouzu's eye and roused her from her memories. Soon several more followed. A small group of shinobi entrenched themselves in the shrubbery and waited for their leaders' signal. Rouzu raised a brow and watched them like hawk. 'And who do we have here?' she thought. Her baby kicked. 'I know, don't worry. We're safe where we are. That chibi will take care of that murdering kid, just you wait.'

            The scimitar thudded to the ground as its owner choked on three pounds of sand that filled his throat, nose and ears. Before he fell, Gaara turned, satisfied and narrowed his eyes at the remaining child.

            "You're the one they were following?" he asked coolly.

            "I am Atemi Panpora: Scorpion of the Seven Deserts."

            Gaara grinned. "I've never heard of you."

            The boy laughed, exposing his small, sharp teeth. "Not many have. I don't leave witnesses."

            Gaara scoffed. "You'll leave your name here. No one will ever hear of you again."

            Temari gritted her teeth as she heard her brother's words. "We've got to do something, Kankuro."

            "Why? Gaara's perfectly capable of taking this pipsqueak out."

            She shook her head. "I've been thinking about that caravan and the stories. What skill is it that could make one's enemy's take their own lives?" Kankuro puzzled over this, but she answered her own question. "Genjutsu."

            "Mind tricks?" he repeated.

            "What do you think will happen if he tries to mess with Gaara's mind?"

            "I think you're going to tell me…" he moaned.

            "It will come."

            Kankuro swallowed deep. "Right. We should probably either break this up or get the hell out of here."

            She nodded, recalling the last time she was witness to the transformation. Gaara had gone all out against that Naruto kid. He was forced that day to resort to using the Tanuki Neri. Temari had never been so afraid in her life. She wouldn't let that happen to her little brother again.

* * *

**More to Come...  
**


	4. chapter 4 end

**Chapter Four**

          Panpora laughed at Gaara and formed a seal with one hand. "You are the one who will never leave this place. Now," he said, staring into Gaara's pale blue eyes. "Die."

          Gaara's body jerked involuntarily. He clutched his head and felt his gorge rise. 'Stop it!' he thought, unable to speak and fell to his knees.

          "Gaara!" Temari shouted from her hiding place, drawing Panpora's attention. "Close your eyes, Gaara!"

          Panpora grinned wide. "Gaara…" he smiled. "This is great! You're Sabakuno Gaara?!" He laughed maniacally. "Maybe I'll let one of you live so that the world will know I killed the famous Gaara of the Desert!"

          Gaara twitched, trying hard to repress the dementia that was slowly taking hold of his consciousness. Kankurou ordered the shinobi to flee to the outskirts of the oasis and charged towards the kid. Panpora sneered at him. "What's this?" he asked. "Are you a clown or something?"

          "You don't know what you're in for," Kankurou growled and hurled kunai at him. Panpora laughed and formed the hand seals again.

          "I guess you don't want to be the one that lives!" Much to his surprise, Kankurou kept attacking. Kunai hit Panpora's arm and shoulder. "What are you guys?!" he shouted. Panpora threw shuriken at his head and the façade cracked. Karasu's frightening, skull-like face seemed to smile out from underneath.

          Temari suddenly became Kankurou, manipulating Karasu from a safe distance. Panpora spun around and looked for Gaara. The real Temari had Gaara under her arm and was bounding away. "Damn it!" he cursed. The distraction worked two-fold. When he turned his attention back to Karasu, a rather sizable smoke bomb was waiting for him. "It's too late! My jutsu has already worked!" he shouted through the smoky haze as the siblings made their escape.

          On the other side of the oasis, Temari and Kankurou laid Gaara down on the sand. He was breathing heavily. His eyes darted about, unfocused and scared.

          "We have to get out of her, Nee-chan," Kankurou urged.

          Temari glared at him. "Would you leave me behind, Kankurou?"

          "Well, no but…"

          "But what? He's my brother. I won't abandon him." Temari reached out gingerly and took Gaara's hand. He didn't react to her touch.

          "If It wakes up and we're here we're dead," Kankurou took her other hand. "Gaara would tell you to go"

          Temari remembered how Gaara threw her aside when he started to lose control the last time. She had hit a tree so hard she coughed up blood, but her brother had only done so because he hadn't wanted her to be harmed. "Gaara…" she whispered.

          "So that's his name," Rouzu commented as she let her presence be known, striding up to them, picking a bit of palm trunk husk off of her robes. The siblings practically jumped. "Relax. I'm with him." She held her hand to Gaara's head to feel the growing fever. "That little Panpora bastard did the same thing to me the other day."

          They blinked at her. "You mean…" Kankurou stuttered. "You survived?"

          "No, I'm a zombie!" she shouted and wiggled her fingers at him. "I think I'm the only one so far. But I have a reason to live." She patted her stomach. "You guys should probably split. When that kid comes back he'll do you over." Rouzu made a series of seals with her hands. "I only have enough chakra to protect myself and to help him. Go now. We'll clean up here."

          Temari made to shout at the strange woman, but Kankurou grabbed her arm. "She's right, Temari. Let's back off and see." Reluctantly she followed him, looking over her shoulder till she couldn't see them anymore.

          "Ok, Chibi. You better be worth this. I need you to protect me. I'm counting on you." She removed his headdress and touched her fingers to the "ai" scar. "I didn't have a chance to perform this jutsu on myself when he attacked me. Let's hope it works for you." She closed her eyes. "Kokorogawari no Jutsu!" His body went stiff for a moment as his mind reeled. Rouzu slumped to the ground at his side.

          Gaara let out a long breath. He looked down at the sleeping woman and blinked a few times. "What the hell was that? Oi…" He nudged her with his foot. "Oi… Onna…" Rouzu's mouth opened and she snored lightly. "Che. You'll tell me what you did to me later. Don't die." He raised a hand and covered most of her body in sand to camouflage her.

          "All right, Scorpion-boy," he called. "Catch me if you can!" Gaara darted out of the oasis in the other direction his siblings had run and a shadow flew after him.

          On the border of the oasis, Gaara stood and squared his shoulders. He looked to the foliage and watched Panpora materialize from the shadows. "I don't know how you managed to break free of my Jutsu, but now that you've had a taste of what I'm capable of I'll really have to give this battle my all."

          "You won't get a second chance," Gaara muttered. He could feel the hot-cold swirling sensation of Rouzu's healing Jutsu flowing through his veins. 'I've got another five minutes until this runs out. After that I will fall into his trap again.' His plan was set. Gaara formed a Suna Bunshin and sent it racing at the younger boy. Panpora smirked and vanished. He reappeared in front of Gaara, his black eyes shining, but to his surprise, they had no effect. He threw a punch and met a blast of protective sand. Panpora lingered just long enough for the bunshin to make it back and throw sand shuriken at him. Several of them met their mark. He growled and leapt away to form another plan.

          "What did you learn from me that you are unaffected by my Genjutsu?!"

          "Wouldn't you like to know," Gaara bluffed. The time was running out, but his plan was coming together. Gaara's back was to the oasis and Panpora had the vastness of the desert behind him. The sand in front of him wavered like water as if more bunshin were about to emerge. Panpora tried his Jutsu again and Gaara felt his chakra return to normal. 'That's it,' he thought. 'It's time.'

          "So this is the power of the great Sabakuno Gaara? You play like a child in a sandbox?!" Panpora shouted. "You might have killed hundreds of assassins but I've killed thousands of people with my skill and never lifted a finger!"

          Gaara smirked and raised his hand. He held two fingers up. "Sandbox?" he asked. "You should have respected Her."

          "Her?"

          "The Desert," Gaara said with a sneer. A rumbling behind him drew Panpora's attention. He turned and his face fell. The desert looked like an ocean. A tsunami of sand crashed down on the both of them. Panpora screamed, but Gaara only smirked.

          When the sand was calm again Gaara resurfaced gracefully.

          The oasis was quiet. The birds and animals that had run for cover when the battle began slowly started to reemerge. Gaara went to the place where he left Rouzu and with a flick of his wrist called the sand away from her. "Daijoubu?" he asked.

          She looked out with one eye, noticed the coast was clear and awkwardly sat up. "Who would have thought I'd been saved by Sabakuno Gaara!" she declared and dusted herself off. "Mysterious ways, ne?"

          "Che," Gaara scoffed. He stood and waited for her.

          "So, Chibi. I'm thinking I can catch up with my own family in the port town of Azbar. Your trip got you headed to the coast?"

          Gaara nodded.

          "Shall we?"

          "I don't think he's going to hurt her…" From a few hundred feet away Temari squirmed as Kankurou held her back. "But I want to see what happens!" she hissed.

          "Temari," Kankurou made his sister face him. "I think he'll do just fine on his own."

          She pouted but relaxed and watched them go.

          Gaara breathed a sigh and shrugged. He grabbed his bag and Rouzu followed him out of the oasis, humming a Bedouin tune as she went.

          Another three days journey brought them to an expanse of rocky terrain that was both hard and hot on the feet. But all the while Rouzu never complained.

          "This way," she said and pointed to the south east. "The coastal trade-route is just over this hill."  They had hardly exchanged words on their trip from the oasis aside from the occasional rude camel joke from Rouzu. Gaara still wasn't sure if this was because she now knew his true identity. She could have been keeping silent out of fear, but then she wouldn't have slept in his presence or given him some of her provisions or… Gaara was deep in thought as the sun was rising and they were walking and Rouzu was telling another one of her gross jokes.

          "So Amhed raises his head up, spits and says, 'Hey…'"

          Gaara walked for another few feet before he realized she wasn't following. He sighed melodramatically. "Wha'd Amhed say, Onna?" When she didn't answer he turned and saw a very strange look on her face. "Can't be… Panpora again?"

          "Unfortunately not," she groaned and held her stomach. "I was hoping I could make it to Azbar, but no such luck."

          Gaara's face went whiter than ever before. "What…?" He noticed the woman's loose-fitting pants were damp. His head throbbed. "No. This can't be happening…"

          "Well it IS, Chibi! Welcome to life. Come on, I can make it to the beach if we hurry…" Rouzu stared into his pale blue eyes and waited for a response, but she could see the panic rising. "Come on, Chibi. I need your help now more than ever. I've been midwife for enough of these things that I know what to do. I'll tell you as you go, just don't lose it on me now, ok?"

          "My… My muh… My mother, she…" Gaara stuttered.

          "Gaara," Rouzu put her hands on his shoulders and stared down at him. "Please. Help me."

          In a daze the boy took her arm and tried to help shoulder her weight as they crossed over the rocky terrain to the beach.

          Over the hill the ocean and its cool breeze was a sufficient wake-up call. His jaw was set and his body was covered in cold sweat as he helped Rouzu sit down on the sand. His mind raced, trying to think of what to do. He could just bury her alive right now under the sand and no one would ever know. Well, Temari and Kankurou would probably figure it out. He looked up as Rouzu tried to suppress a groan. She needed his help. He was the only one who could.

          Soon, there wasn't time to think. It all happened so fast Gaara hardly knew what was going on, but when the baby came out, all odd-colored and slimy and screaming, time stopped. He watched her take the baby from him and do the cleanup herself with one hand, the other cradling her child. She was saying something, but Gaara was staring, open mouthed at the wailing infant.

          Rouzu laughed lightly, washed the baby off with her canteen and wrapped it in one of her shawls. "Hello?" she asked the boy. "Is Gaara at home?"

          "Are you ok?"

          "Fine, fine," she scoffed and stood up. "I think I'm going to name him Raaga. Is that ok?"

          Gaara looked slowly up at her, the late-day sun silhouetting her. "It's a boy?"

          Rouzu laughed again. "You made a pretty good mid-wife, you did!" Gaara bit his lip. "Something wrong, Chibi?"

          "Are you sure you're ok?"

          "Yeah, yeah! We desert women are made of pretty strong stuff."

          "My mother died when I was born."

          The ocean breeze whipped their clothes around and the baby boy called Raaga cried. "I'm sorry."

          "So am I," he whispered.

          To break the tension, Rouzu picked up her pack and cleared her throat. "Well, it's just another couple of hours to Azbar! Let's get a move on!"

          "I'm not going to Azbar," Gaara said and put on his own pack.

          "What?! But I thought that's where you were headed?"

          "I just wanted to see the ocean," he said, turned, looked out at the waves, turned back and started up the dunes. Rouzu's jaw dropped. She watched him climb for a few moments before calling out to him.

          "Don't worry! I won't go ruining your rep, Chibi! Thank you from the bottom of my heart! If you're ever roaming the seven deserts again, look me… no! Look us up!" she shouted and held Raaga up in the air. She waved and waved until finally, just at the top of the dune, Gaara turned and looked at her. She smiled and waved harder and she swore she saw him crack a smile before he disappeared over the horizon.

END


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